Tom Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill

From Freepedia

The Right Honourable Thomas Henry Bingham, Baron Bingham of Cornhill, KG, PC (born 13 October 1933), is one of the most senior judges in the United Kingdom. Prior to his elevation to the judiciary, he practised from Fountain Court Chambers in London.

As the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from from 1996 to 2000, Bingham was (for those regions of the UK) the highest-ranking judge in regular courtroom service; he was personally responsible for adding "of Wales" to the office's title.

In 2000 he moved to the House of Lords, the country's highest court of appeal, as the "Senior" Law Lord (although he had not been one before); he was succeeded as Lord Chief Justice by Lord Woolf, who had likewise succeeded him in 1996 as Master of the Rolls.

He is an advocate of reorganization of the British court system, and under present Government proposals his title would become President of the Supreme Court, a new high court divorced from the House of Lords. As the new system explicitly names the Lord Chief Justice as the head of the judiciary, it may be that Lord Bingham of Cornhill will once again find himself at least nominally subordinate to his former job.

In 2005, he was created a Knight of the Garter, an honour in the personal gift of the Queen and one only rarely conferred on judges. He received the title along with Mary Soames, Baroness Soames and John Major.

External link

• His own unofficial website

Preceded by: The Lord Donaldson of Lymington	Master of the Rolls 1992-1996	Succeeded by: The Lord Woolf
Preceded by: The Lord Taylor of Gosforth	Lord Chief Justice 1996-2000	Succeeded by: The Lord Woolf